My little brother is man of few words. Indeed, he’s grown-up, a man who is only a few years my junior, but he’ll always be a little brother to me.

Since childhood, his silence was often overlooked because with so many frolicking kids in one household, all the loud chatter and squabble over the one television was usually ignored. With 6 high energy kids between the ages of 5-16, my parents became selectively deaf to all our loud obsessions and disputes over the Atari game system. A household of 6 kids and two joysticks was never a quiet one.

Mom and Dad knew each of our strengths, weaknesses and tendencies to conjure up crafty excuses as to why we didn’t finish our homework. Gosh, they’re so smart. They know us so well. So my little brother’s soft speech and gentile demeanor was of no surprise to them. The whole family and neighborhood friends accepted him as the “quiet kid” and we protected him with the armor of our sibling clan. No one dared tried to bully him in our hood.

my brother’s love for chorizo is boundless

It wasn’t until middle school that school counselors found his silence to be too unusual, somewhat threatening and tried to label him as clinical. Despite his great grade point average, they “concluded” that he needed help, even possible medication. They eventually became the enemy. My family had to fight the school system and prove to them that he was a normal kid. The school administrators tried to intervene as ambassadors to better his mental health.He was just quiet. He wasn’t a freak. To prove to the antagonists that he deserved to be in a normal school, he had to take a barrage of academic and mental health tests.

My parents told him to prove to everyone that he wasn’t a mute nor a clinical case. The repercussions of him failing was to simply take away his Atari video game system. That was enough to pull him out of his shell.

Lo and behold, he went in there, chattered his way through the tests and passed with flying colors. Little Brother was able to keep his beloved Atari. It’s amazing how kids make a 180 degree turnaround when they get threatened to have their toys taken away.

Till this day, he’s still a quiet type; a tender, passionate, gentle soul who normally never sparks conversation with anyone he doesn’t know. But when you bring up anything that has to do with video games, music, classical guitars, baseball, or fast cars, he’ll speak more than just a few words. Little brother will give you an ear-full.

Recently, I found another subject that has sparked his interest and has him talking for minutes on end. It’s his love of my sweet onion dip.

He loves my sweet onion dip so much, that he actually adapted it and made it amazing. To have my little brother experiment with food has always been a miracle in itself, but to have him adapt a recipe of mine and make it his own was shocking to me.

Little Brother added chorizo to the sweet onion dip. He told me that. He talked with great excitement. He just couldn’t stop talking.

I sat and watched him rattle eloquently about how delicious the chorizo was. He talked my ear off on his onion browning techniques, the best timing for the cheese melt and how his dip became the hit at his last party. He made it obvious that his love for chorizo and melted cheese was boundless and eternal.

The fool just wouldn’t stop talking about his chorizo dip! And I loved, listened and savored every minute of it.

My little brother may be quiet, but like many of people I know, they only want to speak when there’s a purpose. They’re the flies on the wall, the attentive, observant ones who would much rather listen than speak. I don’t find these folks threatening, but rather refreshing because it’s nice to just be able to sit with someone you love and care about, in silence.

Hot Stove-Top Chorizo Cheese Dip Recipe

Yield:Serves 4-6

Total Time:20 Minutes

What is chorizo? Chorizo is a Spanish & Latin American style sausage. Chorizo is smoky and packed with flavorful spices. This cheesy cream cheese dip is out-of-this world wonderful! But this decadent dip is not for the light-hearted.

Beans would also be another great addition to this recipe. Chorizo cheese and bean dip!

Ingredients:

about 16 ounces (1 pound) of pork chorizo. Most chorizo sold in packages come in 10-12 ounces. This amount will work fine.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional), depending on the fat content of the chorizo. Leaner chorizo will need some oil coated on the pan, fattier chorizo will release plenty of fat for this dip.

1 cup minced onion (about 1 small onion)

1 cup mayo

1 package cream cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

fresh jalapeno or serrano chili peppers, sliced (optional)

fresh chopped cilantro (optional)

Directions:

In large skillet, heat oil (if needed). Remove chorizo from casing and break-up into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until fat is released. Add minced onion and chili peppers. Gently stir and cook for about 5 minutes or until chorizo and onions are cooked.

Add mayo, cream cheese and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Continue cooking until all the cheese is melted and mixed well into the chorizo.

If there is excess fat grease, soak up with paper towels. (but the fat is what makes it good!). Top with fresh chopped cilantro or cilantro sprigs.

Serve with crunchy tortilla chips. And add a ice cold beer to complete the meal!

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Just made it – came out great! I made it with turkey chorizo sausage from Whole Foods and with Neufchatel cheese (the 1/3 the fat cream cheese) and it worked great together. I didn’t buy any cilantro (because it always goes bad before I finish a bunch) but I really wish I had. I think the freshness of cilantro would really compliment the fattiness of everything else I’m serving it with celery so I’m sure that’ll do the trick (or everyone will just take tortilla chips from elsewhere at the potluck). Thanks for a great post!

I bookmarked this awhile ago, and right now I have some leftover chorizo in my fridge, so this is definitely getting made in the next couple of days! I might just eat it for dinner. But don’t tell anyone.

Thanks for posting! My little brother (and he will always be) loves this kind of thing. He and his wife are both teachers so I appreciate the education angle too. I am always trolling for interesting versions of classics. Thanks for this one and the other stovetop recipes.

I used an 8oz (225g) package of cream cheese, I figured that is what you intended.
I substituted New Mexico green chile for the peppers–don’t figure this make any difference, but I always have some around.
I also added 1 t. of cumin and some dried oregano and cilantro to add a little flavor to compliment the chile and chorizo.

I’m the second-time visitor and the first-time commenter. You’ve most likely heard this many times, but your photography is so beautiful I can’t stop looking. On top of it, you also, generously, share photography tips. What a deal. Thank you, thank you.

This is such a great story and, of course, recipe.
Although the football season is ending, Nascar is starting up and this would be great to have for race day- esp. daytona! Thanks for sharing. My boyfriend will LOVE this. I want to show him now but I think I’ll surprise him on 2/14!!

What a great story. I went through a similar thing (I was told my school that he had ADHD) with my son. Parents know their children. I refused to put him on meds because I loved just the way he was. He is now a great student, and great kid. Glad I listened to my heart. Adding chorzio to anything makes it better!!

To Everyone—–thank you for sharing your sibling stories with me. It’s so wonderful to know that silence is often a virtue to many.
and for the rest of you who like the dip, hope you get to make alot of it for superbowl! thank you.

You just made me miss my sister Thanks for the wonderfully written and moving piece. That makes me soooo irate that people here are so ready to dole out diagnoses and medicate whenever they can. I was also a pretty quiet child who got great grades on all tests and papers but didn’t achieve perfect scores because I was a little too shy to fulfill my “class participation” quota. Let’s hear it for the quiet ones!

Fiona- yeah, it was tough for us to have to fight administration from medicating my sibling. It can be infuriating, but that’s for me to vent on another forum.
Giving you and your sister a big hug right now!

I feel for the guy… growing up, people were always asking my sister what I was so angry about (apparently, to some people, quiet and reserved = sullen; go fig). Thankfully, I was private- and home-schooled, so never had to deal with bureaucrats.

This chorizo dip sounds awesome! I love spanish chorizo…and as Manggy said we have kinda “adopted” it over here

Wonderful post about your brother! I habe a little brother myself (5 years younger)…shy only to people he doesn’t know, can be a bit of a loner, but can talk up down and sideways about the things he is passionate about! And how! He is my only sibling and we are extremely close…thank god for little brothers!

Lovely post Diane, tell your brother that I will try his recipe. Here in US it seems that everything is seen as disease or a disorder and that the solution is always medication…your brother is probably a wise man, one that observes things, rationalize them and has a balanced opinion and an argument for everything. His counselors also probably did not know many Asian people, many of my Asian descendant friends are more restrained when talking, what usually results in more personal, deep and meaningful conversations. The world is beautiful the way it is, I love to have friends from different backgrounds and with their unique way of being; each one of then enrich my life in their own way. It is like food, if everything tasted the same, it would be plain and not interesting at all. Thank God that He is so creative and surprises us every single day through people we get to know, new ingredients and flavors, the nature and new horizons in life.

Elaine- I think you hit a good point. Many of my Asian friends were more quiet and refrained from talking too. They weren’t un-social or anything, they were just more demure and quiet. Thanks for your comment and insight. xo

Sometimes I wonder about the whole school system. It’s no better around here. They like to ‘target’ some kids. One of my sons is very quiet to the point where the English teacher told him to participate in class in order to get good marks. Can you imagine. He had to force himself to say something during class. He would come home and tell me: mom I have nothing to say in English but I have to. I felt so bad for him. Last year he graduated top student of his grad class. I was a proud parent that day and he his looking at entering Med school in a couple years. (I’m sure he will be a good listener for his patients).

I’m blessed to have a quiet son with a big heart and love to have him around. I can understand how you feel with your brother.

Thanks for sharing this story with us. It’s not easy to talk about these things. And your brother must be so happy to see his dip featured on your blog

Helene- thank you for sharing your story, it’s so great to hear of another “quiet” medical school student! It’s wonderful to know that he is doing so well and that he has such a big heart of gold! xoxoxo

I have a little brother just like yours. Ok, so he’s a 25 year old med student and a full 6-7 inches taller than me.. but he’ll always be my quiet little brother. He’d whisper in my ear and I’d be his forever loudspeaker. They thought he was a little slow too. Look at him now.. top of his class..neurosurgeon to be. Idiot school system. What do they know. To this day he’ll talk my ear off about anything he’s passionate about. Thank heaven for little brothers My life would be empty and silent without him… ok now time for some chorizo! perfect for superbowl weekend!!

Yikes, why did the school system not take your word for it? (Then again, if they used the word “mute”… Maybe he was beyond just quiet at the time…) I thought your parents’ motivation was so funny. I don’t know anything about baseball but I know my video games, so maybe we’ll get along
You guys are the dipmasters! Since Filipinos were colonized by the Spaniards, we’re claiming chorizo. They owe us that much at least

Yay.. your RSS feed worked this time. I love Chorizo, it has been a favorite of mine, you can have it in so many ways… that just seems so unfair… because he is quite.. some people are just more introverted than others…